Field of the Invention and Description of the Prior Art
This invention relates to an improved mechanism for facilitating the repair of previously laid and stretched carpeting in such a way that the carpeting may be readily repaired in the middle of the floor while there is no need to disturb the previously secured edges thereof.
Carpeting is probably the most commonly used type of floor covering used for a wide range of purposes including for commercial purposes, industrial purposes, and for residential purposes. Many years ago, it was a common practice to install carpeting by using tacks to secure the carpeting to the floor. Today, it has become the common practice to use a "tackless" system for securing carpeting to the floor by using various types of special equipment. Generally, after the carpet padding has been installed on the raw floor, "tack" strips or wood strips having upwardly projecting teeth or barbs are fixedly secured to the periphery or edges of the area which is to be carpeted. The carpeting to be laid is cut to size in order to cover the desired area The outer peripheral edges of the carpeting are stretched by carpet stretching devices and the carpet periphery is placed into engagement with the teeth that project upwardly from the wood strips that are secured to the floor. Carpet stretching devices have been known and used for many years as seen for example, in the Swart U.S. Pat. No. 416,383. A preferred type of stretcher, however, is shown in Crain U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,302, the disclosure thereof being incorporated herein by reference. When stretching the carpeting, a wall engaging portion is provided on the carept stretcher and is used for fixed securement of one end of the stretcher against a wall. The stretcher devices also include a support member having downwardly projecting carpet engaging teeth which engage the upper surface of the outer periphery of a section of carpeting. A toggle mechanism is forcibly and manually operated to stretch the carpeting while the undersurface of the periphery of the carpeting is placed into engagement with the upwardly projecting teeth provided on the fixed wood strips that are mounted on the edges of the space to be covered.
Particularly after use, tears or rips may occur in the carpeting or there may be other types of damage, such as cigarette burns or the like. Also, the carpeting may have "ripples". Therefore, following installation, it often becomes necessary to repair sections of the carpeting. In order to accomplish the repair, in the inner sections of the carpeting, in particular, that is, away from the carpet periphery, it would be considered extremely inconvenient to physically disengage the peripheral edges of the stretched carpeting from the teeth provided on the wood securing strips. It is considered much more convenient to carry out the repair in a more simple manner. Generally, a repair of a seam or the like can be made if the tension of the stretched carpeting is releived in the area of the repair. There is one known device for physically drawing seam edges towards each other in order to repair carpeting. Such a device is shown in Spann U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,181 which enables the tension to be relieved in the region of the repair without disturbing the securement of the carpeting edges to the tack strip. However, it has been found that a device of this type after does not provide sufficient tension relief, with minimal manual effort, in order to accomplish the necessary freedom to sew or patch the area being repaired.